MICA Records 7-Year Low for New MI

August 2008 was the worst month for total primary new insurance written for the members of the Mortgage Insurance Companies of America since MICA changed its reporting methodology seven years ago. There was just $10.2 billion of primary new insurance written, all of it through the traditional channel. No bulk certificates were issued in August -- the previous low was 10 in May of this year. The bulk channel is where most subprime mortgages were insured. In August 2007, 24,698 certificates were issued. The $10.2 billion figure was not the all-time low volume for the traditional channel. In February 2006, the channel contributed $9.3 billion, compared with $10.1 billion the month before. Another event that has affected the reported volume was the departure of Radian Group from the organization in 2003. Triad Guaranty, which entered runoff this summer, is also no longer counted in the organization's statistics. In July, $12.3 billion of primary new insurance was written, all but $31.2 million from the traditional channel. In August, the cure/default ratio stood at 57.4%, with 41,783 cures and 72,818 defaults.